As the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) prepares to stop patrolling trains and platforms, public anxiety is growing among Long Beach Metro users. According to NBC Los Angeles and FOX 11, the five-year working partnership between LBPD and Metro is coming to an end. The contract is scheduled to expire on December 30 and there is only the possibility of month-to-month extensions until March 2025. The LBPD’s action coincides with a lack of personnel and longer response times for non-emergency calls in the city.
Commuters in Long Beach have started to voice their discomfort; some, like Karen Williams, have said that they feel safer now that law enforcement is there. “It was just starting to get better,” wheelchair-bound Williams told NBC Los Angeles. “Pulling the officers off the trains now will make it worse.” It is expected that riders will feel less secure due to the impending absence of officers.
As the LBPD struggles to fill over 150 openings, the reassignment plan calls for 11 officers, sergeants, and one lieutenant to be deployed on the transit lines, according to an unsigned statement from the LBPD obtained by the Long Beach Post. Even though Metro intends to establish its own police force—a long-term project that is still in its early stages—it is still unclear who would protect the Metro’s Long Beach stretch after the contract expires.
The LBPD will still respond to calls on Metro property as needed in spite of the withdrawal. The LBPD declared, “Once the contract is expired, we will no longer have LBPD officers on trains and stations, unless dispatched for emergency calls for service,” illustrating a significant reduction in patrols in the near future, unless there were an emergency. LA Metro promised in a statement to KTLA that they “will continue to work closely with the Long Beach Police Department to ensure the safety of our stations and customers in alignment with our other law enforcement resources.”
As NBC Los Angeles adds, Long Beach resident Johnny Bumpers added to the sentiment by expressing his preference for police monitoring over security personnel on the trains, emphasizing the necessity of law enforcement’s presence to monitor and potentially prevent disruptive individuals. Until Metro comes up with a more detailed plan to cover the gap left by the LBPD’s reassignment, riders and platforms will have to rely on private security and the current police structure.
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